Barbs. Grunts. Bone caves. Dogs who got too close. We got porcupines, folks. Dr. Tim Bean of Cal Poly is as charming an ologist you can get, fielding questions about porcupine squeaks, stanks, cartoonish noses, and some romantic gestures that will leave you wanting to bleach your brain. We also cover counting quills, male models, flim-flam about quill removal, how to spot a porcupine in the wild, how to gently detain one for research, and so much more. An absolute instant classic.

Listen via Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow Dr. Bean on Google Scholar and visit the Bean Lab website

A donation went to NAFWS: Native American Fish & Wildlife Society

Links to things we discussed:

Wild America | S11 E7 The Prickly Porcupine | Full Episode HD

How to Hug a Porcupine (the self-help book)

Teddy Bear, the talking porcupine, likes pumpkin, too!

Predation of a Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis) by an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at a mineral lick in the Peruvian Amazon

Getting to the Point: How Many Quills Does A North American Porcupine (Erethizon Dorsatum) Have?

Mammals of Nevada by E. Raymond Hall

Removal of Foreign Quills by Porcupines

How to Remove Porcupine Quills